Trump admin ignores public process requirements to push forward destructive industrial projects

WASHINGTON — The White House issued another sweeping Orden Ejecutiva last week stripping key protections for people and our planet to rush forward development. The order will help greenlight projects that disproportionately impact communities of color, even amid national protests over systemic racism and police violence. 

The order grants the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authority to issue waivers to requirements under the Clean Water Act and other laws that guarantee public review and input on major initiatives. This will allow corporations to more easily obtain building permits for a wide range of projects, including new industrial marine finfish aquaculture facilities, that pollute our waters and harm coastal communities. This move comes just one month after an earlier orden that shortcut the regulatory process specifically for the aquaculture industry. Following that EO, Trump’s first move was to place one of the nation’s most controversial governors – former Maine Governor Paul LePage with a history of racist remarks and policies – at the helm of a new seafood trade task force.

En respuesta, Friends of the Earth, Recirculating Farms Coalition and Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, members of the Don’t Cage Our Ocean Coalition, Emitió la siguiente declaración:

“This Executive Order is just the latest effort in the administration’s ongoing attack on our oceans and coastal communities. The White House is yet again endangering the health of our oceans to favor big corporations. This order also will disproportionately impact communities of color, by promoting unregulated development and making it easier for dangerous industrial projects to bypass thorough review. Many of the harmful development projects that this order will accelerate will be located in or near historically Black, Native American or other communities of color.”

Contacto de comunicaciones: Kara Watkins-Chow, [email protected]